In the 'olden days' maybe it was understandable that people would be afraid of another group of people who looked different, had a different religion and did things in a different way, because most people lived and died in the place where they were born.

People who always lived in the same place with others like them might fear that people who looked or acted differently may want their land or may want to hurt them in some way.

Nowadays, because people travel a lot, or go to live in a completely different country, or go to school with lots of people from different places, we should learn to respect each other's differences.

But sometimes these fears from the 'olden days' are sort of passed along in families, and a kid may find that he is being prejudiced against someone of a different race, even though he doesn't know that person.

If some people watch something on the news or in a movie which shows someone of a different race or culture doing something bad, then they may choose to think that all people of that race are bad people. How silly is that? There are good and bad people everywhere in the world.

Do you sometimes find yourself saying, "Oh, it's not fair the boys always get to…" or "The girls always get to…" ? Well be careful, because that is gender prejudice.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

For a long time there were some jobs that were only for boys and some jobs that were only for girls.

Boys wouldn't go into 'girls' jobs, like nursing, teaching, hairdressing, modelling because they were thought to be not jobs for 'real' men!

But that has changed now. Lots more girls are going into jobs in engineering, medicine, science, sales and just about anything you can think of that girls were never given the chance to do long ago.

Why? Well, it was thought that it would be a waste of time and money for girls to do any job that needed a lot of time to learn, because girls would get married, have children then stay home to look after them.

Nowadays anyone can do any job if they have the training and the strength and the ability to do it.

In many countries, everyone can choose what they want to do, and employers choose the best person for the job not whether that person is male or female.

Of course there are still some countries where females are not expected or allowed to work outside the home, or even go to school, but not in Australia.

As you learn more about the world we live in and especially about the wars that have been fought, you learn that many of these wars were about religion.

One lot of people was trying to make another lot of people believe in the same god or gods that they believed in.

Some people even believe that their God wants them to kill others who don't have the same beliefs.

Some countries are still fighting about religion. How sad it is that even in Australia some people are prejudiced against others who follow a different religion, and kids may not be allowed to be friends because of this.

As soon as you hear people making comments like, all men, all people of one race, all girls, all boys, all people of a particular religion, all people with one ear bigger than the other, or whatever, then you can tell that there is some prejudice there.How can anyone know all people who….?

"When I was little my dad stayed home to look after me and my mum went out to work." Alex

"I think that we are lucky to have people from different countries in our school." Maddy

"People should just be friendly to other people." Jack

"Everybody is good at something." Tim

"It's not fair to be mean to someone when you don't even know her." Kirsty

"You should try to make friends with people who are not the same as you. You could make a really good friend." Tom

"When I came to live in Austalia some kids at school were mean to me because I have a different accent. When I made friends it got better and they stick up for me if anyone tries to give me a hard time about the way I talk." Jason

A ‘fair go’.Not all girls are ‘girly’Not all boys are ‘strong’.Kids are very differentSo, try to get along.There’s nothing wrong with othersWho are ‘different’ to you.Get to know each otherAnd you’ll find out that is true!BH

In Australia we often talk about "giving someone a fair go".We have people from most countries of the world who have come to live here. We may all look different, we may believe different things, we may worship in different ways, we may eat different food, we may be disabled in some way, we may not all speak English very well, we may be rich or poor, male or female, young or old but we are all people and we are all Australian. It's a good idea to accept that we are all different and learn to give each other a 'Fair Go'.

We've provided this information to help you to understand important things about staying healthy and happy. However, if you feel sick or unhappy, it is important to tell your mum or dad, a teacher or another grown-up.